Sudden cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death in developed countries in the Western World, like the United States and Canada. To increase the chance for survival from cardiac arrest, important aspects are CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation) and heart defibrillation given in the first few critical minutes after the incident. CPR is performed to ensure a sufficient flow of oxygenated blood to vital organs by external compression of the chest combined with rescue breathing. Heart defibrillation is performed to re-establish normal heart rhythm by delivery of an external electric shock. The quality of CPR is essential for survival. Chest compressions must be given with a minimum of interruptions, and be of sufficient depth and rate. Performing chest compressions manually is an extremely exhausting task, and it is practically impossible to give manual CPR of sufficient quality during transportation of a patient.
To overcome this problem, a number of chest compression systems for cardiopulmonary resuscitation have been developed. These systems comprise a chest compression member in charge of performing the compressions, and it is necessary to ensure that said member compresses the patient's chest in a correct place. It is also necessary to ensure that the correct positioning is maintained during the resuscitation process.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,864 describes a device for automatic mechanical external chest compressions consisting of a vertical column attached to a base plate. A cantilevered arm with a cylinder and piston assembly is connected to an annular collar adapted to surround the patient. The annular collar is formed by a single membrane or by an outer and an inner membrane. The collar does not permit adaptation to different patient sizes and shapes.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,398,745 shows another example of an automatic CPR-device. This device uses a compression belt extending around the chest of a patient. The belt is repetitively tightened and relaxed through the action of a belt-tightening spool powered by an electric motor. The motor is controlled by a control system that times the compressions and controls the compressions through an assembly of clutches and brakes connecting the motor to the belt-tightening spool. The compression belt compresses and decompresses the chest of a patient, but it can easily get caught in the patient's clothes. For this reason the patient must be unclothed before the chest compression procedure can start, and valuable time is lost. The belt also covers a large area of the patient's chest and can thus interfere with defibrillation electrodes. Further, use of this device requires that either the defibrillator electrodes be arranged on the patient prior to the arrangement of the belt or that the belt be removed before defibrillation can take place. The belt also makes use of a stethoscope to check for correct intubation and adequate rise cumbersome.
U.S. patent Publication No. 2003181834 describes another chest compression apparatus. The device comprises a back plate positioned behind the patient's back posterior to the patient's heart. The device also includes a front part for positioning around the patient's chest anterior to the patient's heart. The front part comprises two legs, which can be coupled to the back plate. The front part comprises a compression unit that automatically compresses or decompresses (lifts) the patient's chest. The front part also includes a compression member that can be fastened to the patient's chest by means of a vacuum cup. This vacuum cup will get correctly fixed in some patients but will displace on the chest in other patients leading to incorrect or unstable chest compressions.
The above-mentioned devices are either complicated and time-consuming to apply, cumbersome to install and operate, or are unstable on the chest. They are further heavy and expensive to purchase. There is therefore a need for a support that maintains a chest compression device in a substantially constant position and force direction with respect to a patient's chest, and at the same time can be easily and quickly deployed, and is also rugged, portable and light weight, safe and reliable.